The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board has banned the use of 16 items in the forthcoming mock examinations scheduled for February 26, 2018.

The Secretary of JAMB UTME Monitoring Groups, Ngozi Egbuna, stated the items in a memo issued to members of the Civil Society Group on Thursday and obtained by The PUNCH in Jos.

The memo reads: “Kindly note that examination officials are allowed to scrutinise eye glasses or similar devices and where convinced that such item may compromise the sanctity of the examination, the examination official should confiscate it.

“Where examination official (board staff or ad hoc staff) or any authorised person is found with any of these prohibited items in the examination hall, such compromising action would be treated as a deliberate act of examination sabotage and necessary sanction will be applied.”

The CSG is one of the groups inaugurated by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, to assist in monitoring the UTME.

Last year, the groups were reputed to have assisted in giving information from the field and transmitted several challenges, as applicable, to JAMB officials.

Through the JAMB UTME Monitoring Groups, examination malpractices were said to have reduced in 2017.

The prohibited items are wrist watches, pen/biro, mobile phones or similar electronic devices, spy reading glasses which should be scrutinised, calculators or similar electronic devices, USB, CD, hard disks and/or similar storage devices.